


It Started Off With A Dream

by Anmeroth



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: AHAHAHA EPISODE 7 GOT US FUCKED, Aged-Up Character(s), Fluff, I started writing this after episode 6, M/M, Matcha Blossom is more background and will come later, Multi, NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENED, Polyamory, Slow Build, So if they become canon, These boys so soft, This mostly focuses on Renga btw, We're officially in AU territory, this will be an au I guess lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:19:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29576706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anmeroth/pseuds/Anmeroth
Summary: It's been a year since Langa first moved to Okinawa, but recently Reki started to have these weird dreams. Not even sure how he can look his best friend in the eyes, he turns to Joe for advice - surely, the man that usually has women draped around him knows a lot about relationships, right?
Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki, Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 14
Kudos: 136





	1. The Rolling of Wheels on a Rough Path

This was Reki's favorite sound. The tires of his board rolling across the rough ground on the slopes of S. Around him was the sound of numerous other boards and idle charter among other skaters, along with the occasional passing rumble of music from people that brought along their speakers. 

He turned his gaze to his left and watched as the wind played with the hair of the man that swiftly became Reki's best friend in the months since he moved to Okinawa from Canada. Seeming to notice his gaze, Langa turned his attention to the redhead. "What is it? Did something get stuck in my hair again?" 

Reki shook his head, though the mixed boy ran fingers through his hair regardless. "No, I was just thinking that it's pretty nice that you ride goofy." 

Langa raised an eyebrow in silence. 

"Ah, I mean," Reki struggled to find the right words. "It's easier to talk with you, I guess? We can easily look at each other while we talk without either of us having to look over our shoulder."

An unexpected smirk crossed the Canadian's face. "You know what else is easier?" 

"What--?" 

In one swift motion, Langa got his board barely an inch away from the redhead's before grabbing hold of his face. Reki struggled to get words out as his face blushed a bright red and his wide eyes struggled to comprehend the sight of Langa's lips getting closer to his own, until--

"NII-CHAN!" 

Reki jolted awake as a pre-schooler slammed into his stomach. Still reeling from both the dream and the rude awakening, he didn't have time to grab the little twerp as she joined up with her sister at the door. "You little--!" 

"Ka-san said you have to get up for lunch at least!" screeched Nanaka before his sisters bolted off, their giggles fading off into the hallway. 

Reki sat there for a moment, looked over at the clock, blinked, and then screeched. "I'm supposed to be at work in ten minutes!!"

His mother rolled her eyes with a chuckle as she moved his plate of food into a bento box, casually humming along with the theme song of the kids show the girls were watching and pretending there wasn't what sounded like an earthquake coming from her son's room. 

Reki bolted to the front door and tied on his shoes as fast as possible, barely noticing his mother unzipping his backpack to toss in the bento box and zipping it back upright before he stood back up.

"Have a good day at work!" she yelled after him as he shot out the door, mounting his skateboard almost immediately. "Let me know if you'll be out late!" 

"Thanks, Ka-chan!" Reki yelled back before focusing on getting to work as fast as possible. It's not like his boss would necessarily care that much, but he would still prefer to not show up late, especially since he couldn't exactly make excuses about school anymore.

Now that he's graduated high school, Reki decided to not attend university and instead upgraded to a full-time employee at the Dope Sketch. He had hoped that Langa would join him, but he had already been offered a position at Cherry's workplace.

Thinking of Langa made that dream flash before his eyes, the redhead becoming so flustered that he almost missed his turn, barely avoiding slamming into the curb.

Oh god, he almost forgot about that. What kind of dream was that?? Why would he be dreaming about almost kissing Langa of all people...

"Uh, Reki?"

He served to a stop, turning around to find his manager looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I saw you coming and held the door open," Oka told him. "But you skated right past me. Got something on your mind?"

Reki laughed nervously, picking up his board and walking back up to the door. "Ah, no, sorry. I must have just spaced out for a moment there."

Oka's eyes followed him into the shop. "Uh-huh... Is that also why you're five minutes late?"

"Oh wow, three custom boards!" Reki squeaked as he looked through the order log. "I better get right to work on those!"  
___

"Are you coming tonight, sir?" Langa asked as he stepped out of the bathroom, having changed out of the yukata he wore for work and into a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt. 

The pink-haired man thought for a moment. "No, I have a job in the morning. I'll probably be gone most of the day, so don't worry about coming in tomorrow."

Langa nodded his head before turning his head to the AI system. "Carla, I'm clocking out for the night."

"Understood, Langa," the feminine voice spoke as a holographic C shined above the table. "Your shift today will be logged as 8:59 am to 7:33 pm."

"Let Reki know I said hi," Kaoru told his employee with a smile.

Langa nodded once more before grabbing his board from the utility closet and making his way out onto the road, traveling the all-too-familiar pathway to the local skate shop he used to work at. 

Though as he opened the door, his old manager looked up at him with confusion.

"Oh, sorry Langa, but Reki just left," Oka told him, scratching the back of his head. "I thought it was weird that he was leaving early, but he told me that you were working late tonight."

Langa furrowed his brows, pulling out his phone. They hadn't even texted each other yet today. "I'm not sure who told him that, but I guess I'll try to catch up to him."

"Wait!" Oka called out. "Can you make sure he's okay? He's been spacing out and mumbling to himself all day today, but he won't tell me what's up. Maybe he'll be willing to open up to you?"

Langa quickly shifted from confused to worried as he gave a nod and shut the door behind him, speeding down the road to catch up to his best friend.


	2. The Sound of My Name on His Lips

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to pace this out more, but y'all getting a chapter dump after what happened in Episode 7 🥺

"Delivery!" Reki cheered as he pulled out the custom board and handed it off to the customer waiting for him near the entrance. 

"Oh? What a rare sight."

The redhead turned around to see a familiar muscular man skating towards him, two women following on either side of him. "Hey Joe!"

"Where's Snow?" Joe cut right to the chase, pulling to a stop. "You two are usually joined at the hip."

Reki felt his cheeks go red as he looked at the ground, scratching the back of his head. "Ah, haha, yeah it's just--" he paused, looking up at the women clinging to the half-naked man's arms. "Wait, Joe, you know a lot about relationships, right?"

He blinked. That certainly wasn't where he was expecting this conversation to go. "Of course!"

Reki looked back and forth between the two women and they seemed to get the message, each giving the buff man a peck on the lips before skating off together. Once they were gone, the two men started skating off on their own as the shorter one worked up the courage to get the question out. "What does it mean when you, uh, have a dream about someone?" 

Joe nearly fell off his board. "You mean that kind of dream?"

Reki found his fingers fumbling with the strings on his hoodie. "Um, yeah..."

"Obviously, you have feelings for them," Joe told him bluntly. "It could just be sexual, or romantic too. You don't exactly dream about people like that without some kind of attraction there."

"But... It was about Langa."

Joe skidded to a stop, grabbing a hold of Reki's shoulders to hold him in place. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

"Reki!"

The redhead jumped at the familiar sound of his name being yelled out by a voice he was starting to realize was his second favorite sound. His brain too scrambled to think about holding a conversation, he instead squeaked out "Race you to the bottom!" before breaking from Joe's grasp and bolting down the mountain.

Langa followed close behind, shooting past Joe and quickly catching up to his best friend. "Reki, what's wrong?"

"Just felt like going fast!" Reki lied horribly as he weaved himself through the various skaters. 

"Can't we talk first?" Langa asked as he managed to get himself directly next to him.

Reki imagined Langa leaning in close like he did in the dream and tried to back away, but he shifted his body too quickly and instead found himself falling backward. 

Langa leaped forward, wrapping Reki in his arms and holding a hand protectively over the back of his friend's head, as the two of them tumbled down for a moment before slowing to a stop. 

"Reki, are you okay?" Langa asked in a panic as he sat up, immediately checking the smaller man's left arm to make sure it was unscathed. 

Reki just laid there for a moment, staring up at the concerned look on the Canadian's face. In his head, Joe's voice echoed. 'Obviously, you have feelings for them.'

"Fuuuck," Reki groaned, burying his face in his hands and curling up into a ball.

"Joe, get your car!" Langa yelled out, hoping that the muscular man was still within earshot.

"I'm okay," Reki mumbled from behind his hands. "I'm okay, I promise. I just... need a second."

"Let's at least get you home," Langa said, reaching out a hand. "You seem too out of it today to skate properly."

Reki looked up at Langa from between his fingers. Had his lips always looked this kissable? He shook his head. "Okay, maybe you're right about that."

As Reki finally started to sit up, a hot pink compact car pulled to a stop in front of them, Joe stepping out of the passenger seat. "Hey, you guys okay? I was going to get my car, but then saw Shadow still putting on his makeup in his car and figured it would be faster this way."

"It's face paint!" came a grumble from the driver's seat, sticking his head out to reveal that all of the white paint was on, but other than that he just had the outline for his left eye. 

"If it's alright with you, I want to take Reki home," Langa stated as he casually scooped the smaller man into his arms and stood up.

"Langa, I can stand just fine!" Reki yelped, yet still wrapped his arms around his neck on instinct. He looked over to Joe, silently pleading with his eyes.

Joe smiled at him and gave a thumbs up. "No problem! I'll grab your boards."

"Who are you to decide that?!" Shadow yelled out. "I have a beef tonight! There's no way I can drive to Reki's place and back before midnight!"

"Then drop us off at my place," Langa told him as he opened the door to the back seat and set Reki down inside. "I'm much closer."

Reki tried to look to Joe for help again, but all he did was reach in through the passenger seat to pass them their boards. "Have a good night! Take care of yourself, Reki."

"...You dragged me over here and you're not even coming with," Shadow mumbled under his breath, and yet still started heading towards Langa's place once they were both buckled up.

Reki simply stared at his board, fumbling with the wheels with one hand and tracing all of the scuff marks with the other. Fading into the one thing he could always count on to hyperfocus when he needed a distraction, the redhead began mumbling incoherently to himself about how he'll need to make a new board for himself soon and wondering what design he should do this time.

Once he escapes into mind to think about designing skateboards, it's really difficult to snap him out of it. Oka has had to pull tools out of his hand to grab his attention, and his mother once decided to just toss an ice cube into his shirt. 

Langa managed to pull off what the people close to him always struggle with, just by resting his hand against his forehead.

Reki jerked back immediately. "What's up?"

Langa furrowed his brows. "I want to make sure you don't have a fever. We've been staying out pretty late the past few days, so I was worried that you might have gotten sick." 

"I'm fine," Reki told him with a pout. "I just... I have a lot on my mind."

"Ha, that's a first."

Reki glared at Shadow. 

"Anyway, get out," Shadow told them as he pulled to a stop and unlocked the doors. "I only got an hour to get back up there and finish my face paint."

"Thank you for the ride," Langa said as he stepped out.

Reki gave the older man a fist bump. "Good luck with your beef tonight!" 

As the hot pink car sped off, Reki was suddenly fully aware of what was happening. Setting down his skateboard, he casually said "Well, I'll be good from here! See you at S tomorrow!" 

Reki knew it wouldn't work, which is why he didn't even resist when Langa simply grabbed his arm and rolled him towards his home.


	3. His Gentle Breathing

This hadn't been the first time Reki had been in the Canadian man's home. This was, however, the first time he had been over at someone's house while actively aware that he had a crush on them. 

Langa turned around, noticing him standing awkwardly in the front entrance. "What's wrong? Come on in."

"Oh, uh, right!" Reki fumbled to take off his sneakers before following his friend further into the apartment. "Do you, um, have a guest bedroom for me to use?"

"No, but I have a spare futon," Langa explained as he opened up the door to his bedroom. "You can take my bed; I'll sleep on the futon."

"No, this is your house, you should--"

"Bed."

Reki sat down on the bed obediently. 

Langa opened up his closet. "Do you want anything to sleep in? I have some sleep pants and old shirts you can borrow." 

'Boyfriend shirt' immediately popped into Reki's head as he tried his best to act natural. "Oh, um, a pair of pants to change into would be nice. Thanks."

Langa tossed him a pair of black sleep pants and then stepped out of the room, stating that he would be right back.

Reki was about to take off his jeans but then realized the door was still wide open. He knew they were both men, but the thought of Langa walking in while he was just in his boxers was embarrassing. He didn't even usually wear pants to bed, but he wasn't about to sleep in his jeans. 

Sitting back down in the bed after having changed, Reki let his head fall onto the pillow and just laid there for a moment, lost in his thoughts. Oh, it kind of smells like... lavender? Maybe that's the scent of shampoo he uses. His imagination decided to fill his mind with images of Langa naked in the shower and Reki flushed a bright red.

A knock on the door snapped him out of his lewd thoughts. "Can I come in?"

Reki sat up and stared at the door, dumbfounded for a moment. "Yeah? It's your room, dude."

Langa stepped in. "I know, I was just confused why you closed the door."

"Oh, uh, I just wasn't sure if your mom was--" Reki started to lie before stopping mid-sentence, noticing that the Canadian man had changed into a plain pair of navy blue sleep pants and nothing else. He couldn't stop his eyes from lingering on his friend's bare chest. It definitely wasn't the first time he had seen him shirtless, but somehow this was better than every other time. 

"My mom?" Langa tilted his head to the side. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. She went out drinking tonight with her coworkers, so she won't be home tonight. She's a bit of a lightweight, so she usually makes plans to crash at a friend's place every time she goes out to drink."

Reki blinked as Langa spread out the spare futon on the floor next to his bed. "So... It's just us two tonight?"

Langa gave a simple "Mm," as he went to plug in his phone and offered a cord to his friend.

Reki mumbled a small "thanks", plugged in his phone, and moved to get under the covers. 

"Good night, Reki."

"Night, Langa."

Silence fell between the two friends.

Then it hit Reki.

'Oh my fucking god, I'm spending the night at Langa's house while his mom isn't home and he's shirtless and I'm wearing his pants and we're in the same room and--'

Reki rolled over, glancing down at the sleeping man beneath him. His eyes were closed and his breathing gentle and slow. He was laying on his side, facing the bed, with his lean arm draped over the blanket and curled up, his hand laying limply next to his face. 

The redhead rolled over again, pulling the blanket over his head to try to resist the urge to keep staring, as well as to calm his pounding heart. Though in the process, the smell of lilacs became even more powerful.   
___

Langa sat up with a yawn, looking down at his futon with confusion for a moment before looking up to see Reki's leg dangling off the side of his bed. Looking over at his clock and seeing that it was almost 8 am, when he would normally be getting ready for work. 

The taller man stood up and started folding up his futon, holding it in his arms as he looked down at the man in his bed. His limbs were tossed in every direction with his blanket barely covering him anymore, which revealed that at some point in his sleep, he had tossed his shirt onto the floor. Reki let out a rumbling snore as he scratched his bare stomach. 

Langa shook his head with a smirk as he tried to make sure his friend was better covered, before stepping out of his room to put away the futon and get changed. Stepping into the kitchen, he was surprised to see someone was already standing in there.

"Morning," his mother cheerfully greeted him as she sliced a loaf of bread. "Do you work today?"

Langa shook his head. "Did you just get home?"

"Yep," she said as she popped the lid off their butter dish. "Takigawa started at 8 and I don't start until 10, so I figured I would stop here first for a shower and some breakfast. Want some?"

Langa nodded, reaching into the fridge for some milk. "Did you have fun?"

"Oh definitely, especially since Ta--" she stopped herself when she heard dinging in the distance. "Oh, that's the wash. Just a second."

His mom set down her knife and disappeared into the hallway as Langa picked up that same knife to slice some more bread. After a moment, she returned and awkwardly leaned in close, whispering "Um, Langa... is there a reason that there's a half-naked man in your bed?"

"Yeah, Reiki spent the night," he responded calmly, not even looking up from the loaf. "He wasn't feeling too great and I didn't want him going home alone in that state."

His mom stood there for a moment, seeming to expect him to say more. "Okay. Well, does he want breakfast?"

"I'll ask," Langa said before setting down the knife and walking back to his room. Looks Reki changed his position again, this time laying on his stomach with both of his arms wrapped around the pillow; the blanket had fallen to about halfway down his back. Langa sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook the redhead's shoulder. "Hey, Reki. Reki. Reeekiiii..."

He didn't even respond, but started to groan as his phone ring tone went off. Reki began blindly searching for his phone and Langa just set it into his hand. Without even opening his eyes, Reki answered the call and put it against his ear before grumbling out "What is it?"

"SO YOU ARE ALIVE!"

Langa jumped as Reki jerked the phone away from his ear. "Ka-san, could you not scream into my--"

"Oh I'm SORRY, Reki dear, but you never even bothered to let me know that you would be home late, and especially not ALL NIGHT, so I'm SO SORRY if I blew out your eardrum a little when until you picked up. I was thinking you might have ended up in the hospital AGAIN!" 

Reki groaned. "Okay, yeah, I should have texted you. That's my bad, I'm sorry. A lot of things happened and I ended up spending the night at Langa's..."

The redhead turned around, finally realizing that his friend had been sitting next to him this entire time. In that moment, it seemed like all of his braincells decided to take a break, as he just stared at Langa and didn't respond further to his mom's questions. 

Langa sighed and grabbed the phone from Reki's hand. "Apologies, Miss Kyan. Reki wasn't feeling good yesterday, and I didn't feel comfortable sending him home alone. I didn't think to make sure he had let you know about the situation, which I should of as he seemed to spacing out more than usual. I apologize."

"Oh, um, that's okay, Hasegawa. I understand now; thank you for taking care of my son."

Langa passed the phone back and got up to leave, but then remembered why he came in there in the first place. By the time he came back, Reki had already hung up and was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Do you want breakfast?"


	4. The Sound of My Heart Beating When I Look at You

"So..." Oka started to say, breaking the silence in the empty store as he watched Reki stock the shelves. "You spent the night at Langa's?"

Reki dropped the box he was carrying. "Haha, what? W-what makes you ask that so suddenly?"

His manager looked at the red and white hoodie he was wearing with a raised eyebrow. "Gee, I wonder what gave me that idea."

They both turned their head as Langa stepped through the entrance, holding up a plastic bag. "Hey Reki, your clothes finished drying, so I brought them over."

Reiki looked over at Oka with a red face as he looked right back at him with a smirk.

Langa looked between the two of them. "Uh, bad timing?"

"Very--"

"--Perfect timing," Oka interrupted his employee as he stepped out from behind the counter. "I was about to go buy some lunch. If you have the time, can you stay here until I'm back? Just to make sure he's not in his own headspace when a customer comes in."

"I'm not that bad!" Reki yelled out, but Langa simply nodded as Oka walked out of the shop. Reki turned back to the merchandise he dropped while mumbling under his breath. "Well, I guess I kind of am, but it's not like I do it on purpose..."

"You want me to put your clothes in the back?" Langa asked, heading towards the back door. 

Reki looked up at him with a pout. "I told you I would come by after work to pick them up..."

Langa shrugged. "I didn't have anything else planned today."

Silence fell between them as Reki continued to stock the shelves and pretend that he didn't notice Langa staring a hole into the back of his skull. Shrugging, the taller man stepped into the nack and set down the bag of clothes next to the redhead's skateboard before coming back out, squatting down next to the worker and resuming his long stare. 

"W-what is it...?" he finally asked with a sigh.

"You're still acting weird," Langa expressed with concern. "You've barely looked at me since last night. Did something happen? Did I do something wrong?"

"It's not you!" Reki exclaimed, finally making eye contact with his surprised friend. He froze for a moment, bit his lip, and then stared back down at the mostly empty box. "It's not you at all, I just... I had a weird dream."

"Oh!" Langa looked like he immediately understood everything. "You had a dream about me doing the hula in a maid dress and can't unsee it?"

"That's so oddly specific!" Reki said with shock, looking back up with a bemused smile. "Wait, did you dream of me like that?"

Langa nodded his head. "I sometimes have weird dreams like that. I've also had a dream where Kojiro was a fairy with a magic skateboard."

"Wouldn't that make more sense to be Koaru?" Reki wondered, tapping his chin with thought. "He basically already has a magic skateboard, and with his looks, if he suddenly sprouted wings I wouldn't even be surprised."

Langa shrugged. "Dreams are weird."

"Are all of your dreams weird?"

"There's one I keep having that's pretty normal, but I like it a lot," Langa explained. "I sometimes dream of the two of us being in Canada as I teach you how to snowboard, just like how you taught me how to skateboard here."

Oh. They were having such a normal conversation that Reki almost forgot, but there was no mistaking this pounding feeling in his chest. A gentle smile spread across his face as he looked down bashfully. "That sounds... cool. We should try and do that sometime. You can show me the slopes in your hometown."

Reki almost regretted looking back up. He had seen that same smile on Langa's face once before - the day he first managed to kick off an ollie. Just pure, childish glee. He would have zero regrets if it weren't for the thumping in his chest getting so loud that it vibrated his ears.

There was no denying it. There was no uncertainty. Reki knew for certain that he was completely and utterly infatuated with this man.   
___

"So, update me, kid," Joe asked suddenly, draping his muscular arm across the young adult's shoulders. "Have you made your first move yet?"

"First move?" Reki echoed with a raised eyebrow. 

Joe gestured towards Langa, who was waiting to start yet another beef with Miya. They've been getting into beefs almost every month since their first one, and right now they were tied with both of them having six wins. "You know, have you tried to seduce Snow at all since we talked last week?"

Reki's face blended in with his hair. "No way! Besides, he's told me stories about his ex-girlfriends before. He's straight."

"That doesn't--" Joe sighed. "Do you think I'm straight?"

Reki looked between Joe and his two girlfriends that were standing off to the side and chatting. "Dude, that's kind of harsh. Dating not one but two girls when you're gay..."

Joe slapped his palm against his face. "Oh my god, I know you basically drink, eat, and breath skateboards, but have you just been ignoring the rest of the world this whole time?" He looked around them a bit before whispering into his ear. "I'm pansexual, dude. As long as everyone involved is legal and consenting, I don't care what's in anyone's pants."

Reki blinked. "That's... a thing?"

Joe rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's a normal thing. Snow could also be attracted to more than one gender, or he could be one of the many gay people that have been in straight relationships either from denial, being forced to by family, or even just them not realizing that they were gay yet. So, unless he tells you bluntly what he identifies as, you can't know for certain that he's not into men."

The familiar sound of the count down echoed through the mountain, as every set of eyes in S turned to look at the two smiling boys who were playfully retorting back and forth about who will be the champion until their next beef.

"How about this..." Joe started with a smirk. "Let's make this more interesting. If Langa wins, you'll confess to him tonight."

"...And if Miya wins?" Reki asked nervously.

The green-haired man stood there for a moment, thinking. "If Miya wins, I'll let you have full design control on my next board."

Reki's eyes lit up with excitement. He already saw a small boost in commissions when Langa started to become known as Snow and people learned he had made his board from scratch, but making a custom board for THE Joe?? Without even thinking, he yelled out "Go Miya!!"

Right before turning the corner, Langa turned around to look at him and Reki regretted everything.

Joe pinched the bridge of his nose. "You better hope Miya does win now, cause it's going to be really awkward trying to confess to Snow after that."

"I'm just gonna... die now..." Reki mumbled as he curled up into a ball on the dirt.   
___

"Did you two have a fight or something?"

"Is this really the time to be talking about this?"

Miya smirked at the sight of Langa just barely managing to not fall off his board while making a turn. "I have been hanging out with Shadow a lot. Maybe his methods have rubbed off on me."

Langa tried his best to focus on the path he has ridden thousands of times before, but all he could think of was turning around to see his best friend gleefully cheering against him.

"Well, maybe worried about how good you've gotten," he said with a shrug. "People get jealous. Maybe he thinks you're just a slime to him."

"Reki would never--!" Langa stopped himself. All those times he would learn a new trick and turn around to see his conflicted face. All the times he would hold his board and drag his fingers across all of those scuff marks that were mostly concentrated on the same spot. Sometimes, when Reki watched him skate, he almost seemed... sad.

"SNOW!"

Langa snapped out of his thoughts only to see a tree right in front of him.


End file.
